


crimson flower

by Chamomile



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Post-Timeskip, postgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 03:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20146564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chamomile/pseuds/Chamomile
Summary: Since the day she arrived in Garreg Mach, Edelgard has had little love for the lily. There must have been thousands of them spread out across the monastery, monstrosities that dappled the grey and green fields with pure white. In her mind, they never seemed to belong among the wildflowers, standing taller than the others of its kind.





	crimson flower

Since the day she arrived in Garreg Mach, Edelgard has had little love for the lily. There must have been thousands of them spread out across the monastery, monstrosities that dappled the grey and green fields with pure white. In her mind, they never seemed to belong among the wildflowers, standing taller than the others of its kind.

To other generations, the white flowers were pure and unyielding; they stood as symbols of the monastery and the Church…which was exactly why the young emperor came to mislike them the way she did.

But she had freed them from their fate, just as she had freed the Crested and the non-Crested. No longer must they stand for something they do not wish to. They could stand for liberation, for peace…or for her stalwart companion, who she found napping among the fields and the ancient masonwork.

It was not often that Edelgard found Byleth napping like this. Until war’s end, the two of them had been deprived of sleep, working tirelessly to create a Fódlan that Edelgard and her people could be proud of: a Fódlan where history could be taken back into the hands of the people, where peasant and noble could be united in harmony.

The war had ended nary a week ago, and she had heard tell that some cities in the Empire were still holding celebrations in honor of its end. The monastery, too, had been lively for a few days. The Strike Force joined the celebrations as well, drinking and feasting and singing just like they had as students at the Officers’ Academy.

…And in between the festivities, there was the matter with Byleth and the ring—the one Edelgard has put on first thing in the morning every day since she received it. Byleth was _hers, _and if Edelgard could speak with herself from five years ago, she very much doubts her younger self would believe such a thing to be true.

The emperor stands transfixed, gazing over at the other woman as she lay peacefully among the evening lilies, her black armor glowing bright red in the last bits of sunlight. It was small moments like this that could change her opinions of those lilies, she thought, and Byleth _did_ have a tendency to make even the impossible possible.

Edelgard takes the lightest steps, so as not to wake Byleth, but she has heard many a tale about her companion being a heavy sleeper… Edelgard supposes it must be true, considering Byleth slept through five whole years without ever once waking.

She finds a little opening between the flowers next to her companion, and gently sits herself down, taking in the warmth of the sun and the gentlest breezes. Edelgard is nearly tempted to pick Byleth up and hold her close and kiss her again and again, just as she did in the burning capital. She is as overwhelmed as she was in that moment…but in a different way.

Peace isn’t something either of them are used to. Perhaps that’s why this entire experience is newer and more exhilarating than any battle could ever be.

The emperor settles on a kiss, leaning over for a moment or two and gently pressing her lips against Byleth’s. The professor smells of sunlight and lilies, tastes just slightly like her favorite aromatic tea. She struggles to let go, but does so in time.

Byleth stirs, and Edelgard breathes a small sigh of relief. She’s had an irrational fear since the day Byleth came back—that perhaps one day her professor would fall asleep and leave her alone for another five years.

But her eyes slowly blink their way open, sleepily aware of Edelgard’s presence.

“Byleth,” Edelgard’s smile is almost audible, “Everyone was looking for you.”

Byleth jolts up, looking side to side in a moment of panic, “Are they all right?”

“They’re doing just fine, thanks to you,” Edelgard places her hand on the professor’s shoulder, “They…seem to have an interest in holding a feast. For the two of us.”

Edelgard can tell that Byleth is not fully awake yet, and the emperor stifles back a laugh or two. Gently, she moves her hand over to Byleth’s hair, flattening out her companion’s messy blue locks.

“That’s very kind of them,” Byleth blinks, “Another post-war feast, is it?”

“Not this time,” Edelgard shakes her head, “They claim that this one is…in celebration of our engagement.”

“…Oh, goodness,” Byleth shakes herself awake, embarrassed, “I didn’t realize you’d told them so soon.”

“I did no such thing,” Edelgard furrows her brow, “_Ferdinand _of all people happened to notice the ring this afternoon. His questioning would not cease until he found his answers, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.”

“They’re all…acting on an assumption, then?”

“That is correct.”

“…And this includes Hubert?”

“Hubert is working with them, yes,” Edelgard sighs, “I imagine his involvement is what made them all believe Ferdinand’s speculation as truth.”

“Well,” Byleth begins, positioning herself a little closer to her fiancée, “They certainly aren’t wrong.”

Edelgard slides her arms around Byleth, carefully leaning her head on her partner’s shoulder.

“We should be on our way, then, shouldn’t we?” Byleth returns the gesture, murmuring into her emperor’s hair.

“We will be,” Edelgard nods slightly, “But I’d…like to stay here a while with you, if that’s all right.”

“It’s more than all right,” the professor replies, pulling Edelgard in a little closer. Though the sun sinks into the horizon, there is still enough light for them to stay.

“When the sun goes down,” Edelgard tells her, “we may head back.”

The two hold each other without a word for a short while, simply glad of the other’s company and warmth. Byleth has never been one for many words, but since Fhirdiad, she has grown to surprise Edelgard in little ways.

“I had a dream, El,” she begins, “I’ve never had a dream that wasn’t about the goddess before.”

“Was it a good dream?”

“Yes,” Byleth lets go for a moment, turning her gaze towards Edelgard’s, “It was the most wondrous dream—there was a field, just like this one. And it was raining. It wouldn’t stop raining for the longest time, and I thought the rivers would flood and I’d get swept away, but I never did. The sun began to shine again, and my father was there.”

“Jeralt?” Edelgard asks, wide-eyed.

“He was there, and you were with him, and I ran to catch up to you both,” Byleth answers, her eyes aglow, “And we were walking together, and talking together, and _laughing_—I had forgotten what it felt like to laugh. Or…maybe I never knew what laughing really felt like.”

“I don’t recall you ever laughing before,” Edelgard’s face grows as red as the sunset, “But I would be honored to see that. I…would like to see as much of you as I am able.”

“I’d like that, too,” Byleth grinned. Her smile was bright and warm and unlike any Edelgard had seen before, as though the professor was slowly growing into herself. She was finally becoming who she was always meant to be if her heart hadn’t been frozen.

“Would you laugh with me, El?” Byleth asks, and Edelgard can tell she is holding back her fascination, “We can laugh together, for as long as we like.”

And this time, Edelgard pauses, but she does not hold back her delight. She nearly bowls them both over to the ground in her strong-armed embrace, their foreheads closing in on each other after a moment or two.

“Yes,” the emperor replies, “I would love to.”

“El,” Byleth’s gaze begins to wander to her lover’s lips before she can even finish, “May I?”

“You needn’t ask,” Edelgard smiles, leaning in to brush against Byleth’s lips once, twice, perhaps a third or fourth time, and they are still fascinated, not quite used to knowing that they love and are loved in return. Both of them check to make sure this is real with a fifth and sixth before they finally part again.

The sunlight is almost gone, but they’ve still got time, Edelgard reassures herself; she can keep Byleth to herself just a little longer.

And suddenly, Byleth is there against the emperor’s forehead again, overjoyed—the two find themselves smiling and laughing and crying and kissing the other again, before they even realize what they have been wrapped up in. When they finally come to their senses, they burst into more laughter, simply glad that they have the other to have and to hold and to share this with.

“Thank you,” Byleth laughs and wipes a tear away from Edelgard’s flushed cheeks, “I didn’t mean for all this to be so sudden.”

“No, you were…beautiful,” Edelgard answers her in quiet amazement, caressing Byleth’s cheek, taking in the remains of her smile, “I never dreamed I would see you like this.”

“And I never dreamed I would dream,” Byleth closes the gap between them again, her face slightly flushed at the compliment, “but here we are.”

Their last kiss matches the timing of the sundown, and the two let go once they realize how long they’ve been chatting among the lilies.

Byleth is the first to stand, brushing herself off and offering Edelgard a helping hand up. She gladly takes up the offer, holding the professor in her arms one last time before they depart.

“We can laugh together,” Edelgard realizes the weight of the words as she speaks them, “for the rest of our lives.”

Byleth, smiling gently, answers her emperor by spinning her around ever so slightly, letting her crimson skirt bloom in the breeze like the lilies around her, giggling all the while.

Edelgard grows attached to the lilies then and there, seeing and hearing and remembering Byleth’s joy and laughter in each and every one.


End file.
